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Tokyo Motor Show 2017 - cars, cars and more cars

Unfortunately, theTokyo Motor Show only comes once every two years, but luckily this year it was on. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) it is all about production cars, motorbikes, commercial and concept vehicles. Along with the Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS), it is one of the premier car events in Tokyo. If you are into cars, you really should visit both of these shows.

Porsche 911 GT3 - red IS faster!

If you are wondering what are the differences between TMS and TAS, it is pretty simple: 1) the latter is about production and concept cars, while TAS is more about customized cars; 2) TAS can be far more risqué with some of its models and stage shows, and; 3) TAS is held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba prefecture, TMS is held at Tokyo Big Site in Odaiba, not too far from the center of Tokyo.

Nissan's iMx Zero Emission concept car

I’m not really that heavily into cars and bikes, so there was a lot of stuff there I was unprepared for. However, one of the things that really excited me was from Nissan. They had the iMX Zero-Emission concept car that looked very exciting as it will introduce new technology such as autonomous driving mode, an incredible panoramic cabin, driver controlled by eye and hand movements complete with a 600-kilometer range. For people like me that aren’t the best drivers, this car will be great.

Mitsubishi's Emirai 4

For the most futuristic, I thought the Mitsubishi Emirai 4 looked incredible and some incredible features in it. The car has sensors that will monitor the driver and give them appropriate warnings if needed. Another of its many features will be projecting an image onto the road as well as warning lights on the rear of car to alert passersby, especially useful for cyclists. I was extremely excited before the show when I heard about this car, but what was on display looked more like a mockup to showcase new technologies that might be possible in the future.

Honda's Sports EV concept car

For something a little more conventional, there was Honda with its Sports EV concept car. It had a more retro, conventional look to it. This will be another car to incorporate artificial intelligence. The other good point about this car is that it will be all-electric.

Toyota's HV Sports car

There were so many other great cars and bikes at the show, I just wish I was more knowledgeable about them. Some of the others I thought were incredible were the offerings from Germany (Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and Audi) and France (Renault and Peugot). To be honest, most of the stuff at the show was incredible, and I haven’t even talked about the motorbikes and trucks. The only thing missing were the American manufacturers.

One of the fabulous Harley Davidson girls at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show

Other than the cars, the main thing I noticed was far more virtual reality technologies at the show, that seemed very useable and had quite long lines of people waiting to try it out. The other point of interest, which was a little disappointing, was that some parts of one hall weren’t open to the public. I’m hoping that they will be open with displays when the show becomes open to the public on Saturday. Still, I enjoyed Business Day, I enjoyed it thoroughly as it was cars, cars and more cars.

The show opens to the public on Saturday, October 28, and runs through to Sunday, November 5. You can see its website here.